Italian Ships & German Helicopters

Tuesday 15 November – at sea. Day three at sea and tea for me. Sorry, I was just about to break into song.

At 4:45 this morning we entered the Gulf of Aden. Darlene walked 3 miles on Deck 12, and then we went for breakfast in the main dining room on Deck 4 (only our second time there; normally we go to the casual breakfast in the Windjammer Café on Deck 11)

An Italian warship looking like a small frigate hung around our port side this morning a little after 9. I don’t know if there had been reports of pirate activity off Yemen or Somalia, and they were around “for protection,” but they didn’t stay around for very long. The waters have been fairly rough since we entered the Gulf of Aden and we’re heading ENE, so Yemen is to our North, and Somalia is to our South. We have 25 mph winds (45 mph relative) with 3 – 5 meter swells, so it is going to be fairly tough for any pirate ship to come close to us,

Around 12:25 in the early afternoon, a German Marines helicopter came by the ship, with its cargo bay opened. One fellow inside waved, I waved backed as I was taking photos, and the helo took off, cut in front of the ship and turned right (South) and kept going. I asked others, and they didn’t see where it went (there’s nothing but water in our view from here).

We met Bill and Jan Slowinski in their cabin at 5:45 PM. They are the couple from Jackson, Michigan – Darlene’s hometown. Bill in an enrichment lecture speaker onboard talking about crimes scene investigations. We then had a nice dinner, with a table for just the four of us.

At 9 PM, we went to the theatre. It was Production Showtime: “Now and Forever” in the Pacifica Theatre. It was a good show, lasting about 50 minutes. It was a nice way to end another peaceful day at sea.